Date: December 19th, 2014 1:46 PM Author: medicated nibblets
Brother is 15, soon to be 16. I have no idea what to get him. I am far from being in his demographic :). I am NOT going to buy him clothes.
He is a very typical boy - but that means he has all the sporting items and video games and such. I know nothing about video games, so I'm not going in that direction.
Date: December 19th, 2014 3:17 PM Author: 180 pearly chapel
DESCRIBE Suspicious
ALso, get him a commemorative poster of the most memorable IFNB event in recent years, sure to appreciate in value, you can even get it "signed" by his favorite stars
Date: December 19th, 2014 2:47 PM Author: medicated nibblets
I would actually rather him have this than look at internet porn, which I hope and assume he does not do. At least Playboy has some interesting advice, etc.
Date: December 19th, 2014 4:33 PM Author: violet base halford
Blockers which he has spent more hours learning to circumvent than they put into coding. He's fifteen. He absolutely has found a way to get porn. Lots and lots and lots of it.
Date: December 19th, 2014 5:00 PM Author: medicated nibblets
Honestly, as long as it is nude photos, I do not mind. There is nothing wrong with that. It's still confounding why there would need to be "lots and lots and lots of it."
Date: December 19th, 2014 5:05 PM Author: violet base halford
From about 14 through early twenties, males have absurd amounts of hormones and sex drive. I look back on it and it's like I belonged in a fucking padded cell. You have urges like constantly. Random boners all the time. I'd watch, look at, and do narrower and narrower searches for porn for many hours a week. Eventually I was able to find these dark-web sites where dudes would crack pay site passwords on request and felt like the riches man in the world.
Before porn, I used to jack it to MTV. I am still fond of Salt N Pepa, actually.
Date: December 19th, 2014 5:22 PM Author: violet base halford
At that age and under those hormonal conditions, photos will only be good enough insofar as they're the best he can find. He will go to great lengths to find videos, high quality videos, of specific acts he didn't even know were potentially sexual, from specific camera angles, with specific types of women. This is just How it Is.
Now that I'm old, I actually mostly jack it to photos (specifically r/gonewildplus because I like less-than-attractive chicks with the desire to put themselves up to be ogled.)
Date: December 19th, 2014 2:41 PM Author: violet base halford
It is the opposite. Some gift he won't use and isn't what he wants is blah. Currency which can be exchanged for any particular good or service he might want is always the perfect gift.
Date: December 19th, 2014 4:35 PM Author: violet base halford
For real. Assuming he isn't spoiled as fuck, he probably doesn't have much access to cash. He will appreciate it, and I'm sure he's not so sentimental he'd give much weight to the thought you out into whatever silly shit you would otherwise get him. Just do cash, and some small trinket if you must give an actual gift.
Date: December 19th, 2014 4:49 PM Author: medicated nibblets
I think I may have momentarily forgotten just how unsentimental boys are... I love my brother to pieces (and I know he loves me, too), but it's like he grunts his way through some conversations...
Date: December 19th, 2014 4:53 PM Author: violet base halford
I'm in my thirties and I still would rather have cash. Until recently I've been poor and it'd really grind my gears when people would buy me sub-optimal gifts (basically anything not explicitly asked for.) At best I have to return it for store credit and try to find something I want for a similar price. At worst I'm stuck with some piece of clothing that won't make my rotation but I feel obligated to keep for a few years until I throw it out, unworn.
It's like, goddammit aunt ginny, you could have really helped me by giving me fifty bucks, and instead I can barely afford to eat and I have to stare at this stupid thing you thought I'd want. Even if I might sorta like it, I have to think about the opportunity cost every time I see it and think how much more value I'd have gotten from being able to spend that money myself.
Date: December 19th, 2014 4:58 PM Author: medicated nibblets
I know you're right. And I'm wrong and Aunt Ginny's wrong.
It just seems so ... practical. And I guess we want gifts to have sentimental or some other value.
But you are convincing. I will give him cash. Even if I give him something else (a nice watch?), I will still give him cash. I am thinking of a nice watch because he is getting to the age where he should have one, and if I get him one that is nice and masculine enough it will carry him through college...
Date: December 19th, 2014 5:10 PM Author: violet base halford
Shit man, I remember to this day certain gifts and just feeling raw at needing to put on a smile about it. I also remember my aunt giving me a large ($500) gift when I started college, and felt far more gratitude for that than any gift I've ever gotten.
Imho, a watch is a really bad idea unless you know he wants it, and in the particular style. Style and fashion are very personal choices. Further, not a lot of people wear watches outside of business attire these days. My mom and step dad have given me like three watches in five years, and I've never even taken them to go get properly fitted. Never worn em once. I really could have used whatever they spent on those fucking watches.
Date: December 19th, 2014 5:19 PM Author: violet base halford
My pleasure. Just, at least, avoid giving him something that is actually what you want him to want--like "here's a J. Crew sweater because you'd look so sharp if you just stopped wearing that punk rock shit." That's basically an insult he's forced to thank you for.
Date: December 19th, 2014 5:32 PM Author: violet base halford
One more to add, for sentiment: you could make him a kickass USB drive music (and TV and movies) mix. A 32gb USB is like fifteen bucks, and you could torrent all the music he's too young to have been exposed to. That would be very sisterly of you and negligible cost.
Date: December 19th, 2014 2:54 PM Author: Henna keepsake machete
I got my 15 year old godson a GPS watch. Evidently he's getting big into cross country (I got him a nice baseball glove last year and he got cut from the team, so I want to make sure that I show him some support for this running bull shit even though I wish he was good at real sports).
Date: December 19th, 2014 3:13 PM Author: Henna keepsake machete
Yeah, real young. I was the oldest in my extended family, so my uncle named me godfather of my cousin when I was like 15. I actually have two cousins I'm the godfather to.
if he doesn't have any hobbies or interests that you can get him shit for, then seriously, just give him a good-sized wad of cash. nothing else will really be appreciated or useful. give him $300 and with a note that says "blow it on a bitch" or "take a road trip" or whatever.